As Atheists we all run into people from time to time that want to question our lack of belief in religion. Here's a good example of how to address these questions civilly and non-confrontationally. Who knows, you might even get some of the fence sitters to come over to an Atheist perspective.
In Se the idea is to use the Socratic method to get the person to ask themselves the hard questions, to ponder why they believe the things they believe.
SURPRISE!
Most do not know and have not really thought about it.
It is not about moving fence sitters or converting anyone, it is about getting them to critically think.
Wouldn't encouraging critical thought in people who are mired in blind belief but still able to think critically be moving fence sitters and encouraging free king?
@Surfpirate it is attempting to get them to critically think, but one does not need any objective to that end. I do not need to focus on trying to get them to shed dome belief, only to actually consider it.
Even if they retain a belief, it is likely to be tempered by reason if it is considered. If it is not, then it can be fundamentalist as hell with no thought required, which can be dangerous for society.
So getting folks to think does not neccessarily lead to them shedding religion, but it does tend to make folks a little less quick to judge, that is IF they learn to think and consider.
SE is exactly that - the message of no Jesus. If it's a discussion or debate coming up I use another tactic. Discussing things with fancy terms and names can go on for hours and all it shows is a dogged bullheadedness. Use logic and show me evidence. If you don't have any then move on. I have no reason to believe the contradictory things said in the bible or any other holy writings. Believers will want to go for hours to prove to you they are not biblical contradictions. I simply point out that 66 independent books were not meant to be bound together as a single book in the first place. That one sentence explains all the bible contradictions. Imagine that.